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5 Sep 2019

How employers can sponsor regional workers more flexibly from November

Australia’s new Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (SESR) Provisional 494 Visa commencing on 16 November 2019 will soon replace the Subclass 187 Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme Visa.

Here’s how the SESR 494 Visa will provide employers more flexibility to sponsor visa holders for eligible work in regional areas.

Regional visas across more areas of Australia

From November, more areas in Australia will become eligible for regional migration. Under the Migration Amendment (New Skilled Regional Visas) Regulations 2019, the classification of ‘regional areas’ for visa and migration purposes will change to encompass all of Australia except Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

This will widen the availability of the regional skilled visa program to employers across a broader area of Australia and make the definition of ‘regional’ consistent across visa types.

673 occupations eligible for regional visa sponsorship

Employers in regional Australia and State and Territory Governments will soon be able to access 450 more occupations to sponsor visa holders than for non-regional employer-sponsored visas. A total of 673 occupations are expected to become eligible for regional visa sponsorship.

This will broaden the number of occupations available for visa sponsorship and help employers to meet labour shortages in regional areas.

Faster government visa processing

Employers will also be able to access priority processing for regional visa sponsorship. Under the current Subclass 187 Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme, the Government can take up to 23 months to process a visa application. Priority processing could reduce this significantly.

Access to priority processing will benefit regional businesses with critical labour requirements who may not be able to easily secure suitable employees locally.

Under the new 494 Visa, employers will still need to undertake Labour Market Testing and provide evidence of the difficulty in engaging local applicants before sponsoring a visa holder.

Migration connections made simple

Immigracious’ Registered Migration Agents would be happy to advise of your visa and sponsorship options in regional areas of Australia. Simply contact our team on +61 (8) 6185 2770 or hello@immigracious.com.au

Source:

Immigracious’ Registered Migration Agents

Department of Home Affairs

Migration Institute of Australia


Sheila Woods

Posted by: Sheila Woods

A very experienced migration agent, Sheila has always been fascinated by this field. Her university degree thesis was on Australia’s post-war immigration history (and it earned her first-class honours).


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